But we ought not throw cold water on people exhibiting what can happen at the skinny end of the Bell curve.
It's when they begin to gush about it becoming the fat middle of the bell curve that we should erupt in raucous laughter.
Posted on 11/07/2023 9:37:56 AM PST by aculeus
How a small plane’s 16-day trip from Vermont to Florida might foreshadow a new era of battery-powered air travel long considered implausible.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Tower to "EV69, sorry all the chargers are in use, please maintain altitude and direction...."
Look on the bright side, no more center fuel tank explosions.
A flying lithium bomb. You can just open the door and step out when those batteries catch fire. Then you gotta hope that someone on the ground is not killed.
“You couldn’t walk it, but maybe bike or electric bike?”
Perhaps. I’d rather drive it in a real car.
But we ought not throw cold water on people exhibiting what can happen at the skinny end of the Bell curve.
It's when they begin to gush about it becoming the fat middle of the bell curve that we should erupt in raucous laughter.
I’d rather drive.
I know a few people who can do 100 miles a day on a bicycle, and they are not professional racers or anything like that.
Think about it; 20 miles per hour for 5 hours, they are just health and fitness nut types.
I wasn’t going to brag, but that is me in the cyclist getup. Below is a picture of me. Expand the picture in #9, and you’ll see it’s a perfect match. 😀
A high capacity EV battery has an energy density of ~400 Watt hours /kg.
The equivalent for gasoline or jet fuel is 13,000.
The energy density for batteries is two orders of magnitude less.
At this point in time..I ain’t riding in an Electric Plane.
“He envisions people from the SF Bay Area living in the foothills of the Sierras and commuting to work in their aircraft.”
Does he envision how they are all going to qualify for pilot’s licenses?
Unicorn farts, silly!
Re-imagine a C-130 with electric motors....
Having worked in the industry, and dabbled with electric planes.
Good luck with that. Sure, looks great on paper. Part of your range in any aircraft is weight loss from fuel burn. Two. Unless physics change, there are no batteries I know of that lose weight as they run. Three. unless physics change batteries will never have the same energy density available in liquid fuels. Three... Unless physics change Batteries will not operate in the huge temperature differences in flight. The weight to produce the same thrust or prop HP from an electric motor is massive. An aircraft only makes money if it is in the air. Sure some rich person may be able to fly this back and forth to an airport but seeing how they will not have heaters or air conditioners a car will be more comfortable.
Everything running this is a tax write off or a tax subsidy.
“Each type of motor has a characteristic torque curve. None make max torque at all RPMs.”
WRONG, electric motors have the same torque at all RPM. Engines have a torque curve.
When measuring torque in lb.ft., the torque and horsepower will be the same at 5252 rpm. Torque is higher than HP below 5252 rpm and HP is higher than torque above 5252 rpm. The 5252 is a mathematical constant that converts the formula for linear horse power into a formula for rotational horsepower. The formula is Torque x HP / 5252.
Lighting makes big shows
Every flight is a 4th of July
Initially there will be a pilot on board. His vision is autonomous planes. He thinks it is a FAR easier problem to solve than land vehicles. You don’t have other idiots bent on killing you on all sides of you, you don’t have semis with four foot tall tires inches from your door, you don’t have masses of vehicles all around you.
I think he’s good at looking 10 to 20 years in the future. We see the outlines and contours of this solution today, but the bugs are still nasty (look at all the bad autonomous car snafus). He’s betting on 1) the air nav problem is a lot easier to solve, 2) tech will continue to evolve, and 3) autonomous systems will mature.
Sorry.
I didn't know those were paid actors.
THE FUTURE'S NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE!
Hardly anybody talks about "tomorrow's higher standard of living." In fact, all the greenie talk the past 40 years has been about doing with less. And they've amped that message up past 11 the past couple decades. No cars, no fossil fuels, no farms, no personal air travel, eating bugs. Give me the good old days of unlimited possibilities!
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